A suspect has been arrested in the killing of a woman whose body was found while firefighters battled a brush fire in Bowie, Maryland, this summer.
Marquita Lucas, 24, of Northwest D.C., was found dead Aug. 17 in the 3100 block of Mill Branch Road in Bowie.
An autopsy found Lucas suffered multiple injuries, including 12 sharp force injuries to the back of her head, two sharp force injuries above her right eye, and more sharp force injuries to her back rear shoulder and rear neck.
Thomas Fields Jr., 36, told people he stabbed Lucas with an ice pick and beat her with a sledgehammer after smoking PCP inside his home in the 3700 block of Horner Place SE, detectives said.
“It was unnecessary,” Lucas’ aunt said. “It was heartless, it was inhumane and it was a coward. He’s a coward.”
Fields allegedly forced a witness at gunpoint to wash bloody clothes and shoes and to drive him to Bowie where Fields allegedly disposed of Lucas’ body and set it on fire with gasoline, according to court documents.
The witness led police to trash bags filled with evidence from the crime scene, according to the documents.
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One witness told police Fields and the victim had been in a romantic relationship for a few years and that they fought a lot but she didn’t report the abuse.
Fields' attorney questioned the credibility of the witnesses, but a judge found probable cause to hold Fields on a first-degree murder charge. He's scheduled to return to court next month.
